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Veteran journalist and filmmaker Sacha Jenkins, widely known for his impactful work in hip-hop culture, has died at age 54. Jenkins’ wife, Raquel Cepeda, told The Hollywood Reporter that he passed away from complications of multiple system atrophy.

Jenkins spent decades using storytelling to elevate hip-hop, whether through print, television, or film. His voice helped shape the culture’s mainstream presence while always staying rooted in its underground authenticity.

The publications and legacy Sacha Jenkins built

Jenkins is remembered as the founder of several influential publications. One of his earliest projects, Graphic Scenes & Xplicit Language, became one of the first magazines to highlight the art of graffiti. He also co-founded the hip-hop newspaper Beat Down with childhood friend Elliott Wilson. The two would later reunite to create Ego Trip, a magazine that bridged hip-hop and skateboarding culture.

Beyond founding his own outlets, Jenkins wrote for Spin and Rolling Stone and became well-known for his editorial work at Vibe, where he served as music editor.

What are some of Sacha Jenkins’ accomplishments as a filmmaker?

Jenkins directed several critically acclaimed documentaries, including Bitchin’: The Sound and Fury of Rick James and Fresh Dressed. He also wrote All Up in the Biz, a tribute to hip-hop icon Biz Markie. His work on the docuseries Wu-Tang Clan: Of Mics and Men earned him an Emmy.

In Louis Armstrong’s Black & Blues, another standout project, Jenkins spoke about the jazz legend with reverence.

“He’s a very special person — not a normal individual — who had a real foresight and real insight and was just the essence of creativity,” Jenkins told the Film Academy, per The Hollywood Reporter. “I play music. I do different things. And I’m inspired by seeing someone who can do it on such a high level. He was inspired by creativity. That was his fuel.”

In a 2023 interview with Blavity’s Shadow and Act, Jenkins reflected on his Netflix docuseries Rapture, which explored hip-hop through the lens of its artists.

“I was a journalist writing about hip-hop for many years,” Jenkins said. “To see it firsthand and to have the kind of intimate access that we had, I knew that was something that hip-hop could use right now. I know that hip-hop is the most streamed, most popular form of music in the world, and it’s very easy for people to be into hip-hop just on the strength of the way it sounds, [and] the way it feels. But, I know as a native that there are so many things that get lost in translation, and I felt that a series like [Rapture] would give people a real window and therefore a deeper understanding of what hip-hop really means, [and] where it comes from.”

Activist leaders in Black communities nationwide have been urging shoppers to boycott major retailers, including Target, after the company began rolling back its diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives earlier this year in response to an executive order signed by President Donald Trump. One group has planned another specific protest that’s coming up soon.

Dream Con is taking place in Houston with Megan Thee Stallion as a headliner. Megan loves anime and Japanese culture, even incorporating it into her music and videos for songs like “Mamushi” featuring Yuki Chiba, “BOA,” “Otaku Hot Girl,” “Hiss,” “Opposite Day” and “Neva Play.” However, Dream Con’s Instagram followers are calling out the convention after noticing that its social media team liked comments that negatively targeted Megan in relation to Tory Lanez.

Megan Thee Stallion joining Dream Con 2025 excites fans

Dream Con will take place in Houston from May 30 to June 1. On May 20, the premier Black-owned entertainment convention, founded by RDCWorld, announced that Megan would appear at this year’s event. According to organizers, those planning to attend continuously requested that an invitation be extended to the Houston Hottie.

“Ever since we announced that Dream Con was coming to Houston, fans have been asking for Meg to be part of it, and we heard them loud and clear,” RDCWorld said in a written statement, according to Chron.com.

Megan is set to host an engaging panel exploring storytelling, community and building authentic brands, including a playful cosplay moment for fans. Her tequila brand Chicas Divertidas will be featured throughout the weekend with curated cocktail experiences for attendees 21 and older. Megan is also expected to appear at one of the late-night events, enhancing the convention’s nightlife lineup with her star power.

“THEE MOMENT is finally here 👀🔥 We are honored to welcome the one & only MEGAN THEE STALLION to Dream Con 2025! Grammy-winning artist, successful entrepreneur & proud Houston native, @theestallion is bringing her Hot Girl Energy front & center,” part of Dream Con’s Instagram caption read. 

The news was met with a mix of emotions, mainly with praise.

“Let’s show Megan the love and support she deserves and please yall let’s have some decorum,” one person wrote.

“Omfg I just fell to the floor,” someone else said.

“I’m so happy I’m going this year 🥲🥲,” another commented. 

Dream Con issues apology to Megan Thee Stallion after liking posts supporting Tory Lanez

Things went downhill shortly after when Dream Con’s followers noticed the account had been liking posts pertaining to Lanez, who allegedly shot Megan on July 12, 2020. Lanez is currently serving a 10-year prison sentence after being convicted of assault with a semiautomatic firearm, carrying a loaded unregistered firearm in a vehicle and discharging a firearm with gross negligence in 2022. The posts that were liked by Dream Con’s social media team suggested that Lanez may be innocent.

Hey so who runs the official Dreamcon account and is liking the Tory Lanez comments I just wanna know 😀 pic.twitter.com/5nbupyOcR3— Joyce 🔜Momo/Dream ‘25 (@Etrouse) May 20, 2025

Megan responded to the hearsay via an Instagram post: “At what point are y’all gonna stop making me have to re-live being shot BY TORY!? At what point are Tory and y’all FANS gonna stop lying? Like, how much is the check to keep harassing me? Why is this happening EVERY DAY??” One min him/ yall said I was never shot now yall letting him play in yall face AGAIN and say I as shot but it wasn’t him oh okay… ?! I’m sick of this s**t LEAVE ME TF ALONE!!!!”

In response to the criticism for interacting with shady comments aimed at Megan, Dream Con released a statement on its Instagram story and X, formerly Twitter.

“We love and support Megan Thee Stallion. We’re deeply sorry for the recent activity on our social media platforms that involved liking and engaging with negative comments directed at her,” the statement read in part.

“Moving forward, we are implementing stricter oversight for our social media team to uphold the standards of respect that everyone in our community deserves and to ensure this never happens again,” it added.

Dick’s Sporting Goods is set to acquire Foot Locker for $2.4 billion with goal of expanding Foot Locker’s global outreach.

As NPR reported, Dick’s Sporting Goods is expecting to see significant growth by acquiring Foot Locker. Executive chairman Ed Stack said Foot Locker’s “cultural significance” in particular will make a strong impact on the retail chain.

“We believe there is meaningful opportunity for growth ahead,” Stack said in a statement, per NPR. “Together, we will leverage the complementary strengths of both organizations to better serve the broad and evolving needs of global sports retail consumers.”

While investors have some skepticism about the merger, Stack said the companies feel “highly confident” and they are “up for the job.”

“We’re pretty conservative. We don’t have a lot of big egos here,” Stack told CNBC. “If we didn’t see this clear line of sight to this, or we thought that this was going to impact what we’re able to do with Dick’s, we wouldn’t be doing it.”

While Foot Locker has seen a decline in sales in the first quarter of the year, Dick’s is trending in the opposite direction. Foot Locker, which reported that sales are down 2.6% from last year’s final period, is projecting a net loss of $363 million in the first part of 2025, according to CNBC. Meanwhile, Dick’s has seen an increase of 4.5% in sales in recent months.

Dick’s CEO Lauren Hobart said the company’s growth has made it possible to purchase Foot Locker.

“We are very pleased with our strong start to the year and our demonstrated sustained growth,” Hobart told CNBC. “The strength of our business puts us in a great position for our proposed acquisition of Foot Locker — a transformative step to accelerate our global reach and drive significant value for our athletes, teammates, partners and shareholders.”

A fire that damaged the original infrastructure of a historically Black church in Tennessee was intentionally set, authorities say.

Built in 1891, the Romanesque Revival church, located south of Beale Street, initially served as a sacred sanctuary for white residents of Memphis, per the cathedral’s website. Half a century later, the building was moved and sold to the African Methodist Episcopal Church. It became a safe haven and cultural site of faith for the Black community and was renamed Clayborn Temple under the leadership of AME Bishop Jim Clayborn.

Clayborn Temple’s restoration halted by suspected arson

According to the Associated Press, Clayborn Temple was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1979. After being vacant for some time, the National Park Service initiated a reconstruction movement in 2017 by awarding the church a $400,000 grant. The property was in the process of a $25 million remodel project for several years when it was intentionally set on fire around the end of last month, with the flare-up originating inside the church, according to a statement from the Memphis Fire Department. 

On the day of the incident, Memphis Fire Chief Gina Sweat confirmed that although the building’s interior was destroyed, there was still a chance that portions of the exterior could be preserved. On May 14, the fire department announced that the structure had been stabilized, allowing investigators to begin using specialized tools to determine the cause of the fire. Authorities are actively working to identify a suspect connected to the incident.

A sacred site of Civil Rights legacy

The church has been a part of a couple of historic moments in the city. In 1968, the site was home to a labor strike involving Black sanitation workers who were being treated worse than humanely, according to Clayborn Temple’s website. The walkout kicked off the “I AM MAN” campaign, which caught the attention of civil rights activist Dr. Martin Luther King, leading him to visit. That same year, the faith-based building was where the homegoing of a teen named Larry Payne, who was unjustly beaten and killed by Memphis Police Department Patrolman Leslie Dean Jones, occurred.

A monument called “I AM A MAN Plaza,” honoring the sanitation workers, was opened on church grounds in 2018. Despite how disheartening the situation has been for the community, Anasa Troutman, who serves as Historic Clayborn Temple’s executive director, shared that she and her peers are resilient.

“Clayborn Temple is sacred ground — home to generations of struggle, resilience and creativity,” Anasa Troutman, executive director of Historic Clayborn Temple, told the Associated Press on Wednesday. “This act of violence is painful, but it will not break our spirit.”

High-profile names continue to pop up in relation to the case against Sean “Diddy” Combs. Several celebrities have either already testified or are expected to in the near future. For a refresher, check out Blavity’s recap of what’s happened with Diddy’s trial so far.

Social media is full of speculation about who will get pulled into the trial, and the names of the victims, witnesses, or willing participants in Diddy’s alleged sex trafficking and racketeering. One of the newest names floating around is Usher Raymond. This has fans wondering, “Did Usher testify at Diddy’s trial?”

Who Has Testified In Diddy’s Trial So Far?

Photo: Johnny Nunez via Getty Images

So far, the trial has included testimony from legal experts, people associated with Combs, and some of his alleged victims. One of these victims, Cassie Ventura Fine, testified about Combs’ abuse in extensive detail, according to NBC News.

“This week has been extremely challenging, but also remarkably empowering and healing for me,” Ventura Fine said. “I hope that my testimony has given strength and a voice to other survivors, and can help others who have suffered to speak up and also heal from the abuse and fear.”

Following Ventura Fine’s testimony, forensic psychologist Dawn Hughes took the stand to testify about abusive relationships. Though Hughes hasn’t assessed anyone related to this trial, she provided context on how relationships like the one Combs had with Ventura Fine often operate through fear and manipulation. 

“It’s about the power and control that the abuser has over the victim,” she said. 

According to CNN, Homeland Security Investigations Special Agent Gerard Gannon also testified about items found during the raid of Combs’ Miami residence. Agents reportedly found firearms with their serial numbers scratched off and ammunition. They also found a bag with “Puffy” written on it filled with cocaine, ketamine, MDMA, alprazolam, and methamphetamine.

George Kaplan, who worked as a personal assistant to Combs, testified as well. According to ABC News, he revealed that his job was regularly threatened and described how people who worked for Combs protected him from facing consequences. Kaplan also testified that he’d bought MDMA for Combs and prepared hotel rooms with alcohol, baby oil, and candles, among other items. 

On May 22, Scott “Kid Cudi” Mescudi took the stand to testify about his interactions with Combs. Mescudi confirmed rumours that Combs targeted him because of his relationship with Ventura Fine. In his testimony, he alleged that Combs had broken into his house and damaged his property. Mescudi also stated his belief that Combs orchestrated a 2012 explosion that severely damaged his car. 

Will Usher Actually Testify At Diddy’s Trial?

Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images for The Met Museum/Vogue

According to Snopes, the rumor that Usher testified in Combs’ trial started when a fake video created with AI was posted to YouTube. The video, which claimed to show Usher’s testimony at the trial, was quickly debunked.

However, his name did actually come up during someone else’s testimony. According to VIBE, Dawn Richard testified that she saw Combs punch Ventura in the stomach at a dinner party in 2010.

“She immediately bent over, [Combs] told her to leave,” Richard testified. “No one intervened.”

Richards, a singer once signed to Combs’ record label, also claimed that Usher, Ne-Yo, Jimmy Iovine, and other celebrities were in attendance. However, she didn’t state whether any of these celebrities witnessed the incident directly. 

That testimony is the only official mention of Raymond during the trial so far.

How Long Has Usher Known Diddy?

Raymond and Combs have a longstanding relationship going back to the early 1990s when they were both becoming household names. In a 2004 interview with Rolling Stone, Raymond said he was essentially sent to live with Combs for a year when he broke into the music industry. 

“Hardest days of my life,” Raymond said in reference to the time. “I had to knuckle up, figure s–t out in New York by my mother-f–king self.” He went on to say, “Puff introduced me to a totally different set of s–t — sex, specifically. Sex is so hot in the industry, man… There was always girls around. You’d open a door and see somebody doing it, or several people in a room having an orgy. You never knew what was going to happen.”

In the context of Combs’ current trial, Raymond’s stories from more than 20 years ago could have a darker meaning. They seem to hint at the far-reaching impact of this scandal. 

According to USA Today, men have also accused Combs of sexual assault. Some of these accusers say they were minors when the assaults happened. This has raised questions about whether Raymond was ever a victim of Combs’ abuse.

As of this writing, no reports have confirmed whether Raymond will testify in Diddy’s trial.

Frequently Asked Questions

What happened between Shyne and Puff Daddy?

According to CNN, Moses “Shyne” Barrow was a protégé of Combs in the late 1990s. In 1999, the two were involved in a shooting at a nightclub. Though Combs was acquitted, Barrow was not. He was sentenced to jail time for the incident and eventually deported to his home country of Belize. In the Hulu documentary, “The Honorable Shyne,” Barrow said he believed Combs set him up to take the blame for the shooting.

How much money has Sean Combs lost?

According to Forbes, Sean Combs’s net worth has reportedly shrunk from around $700 million in 2019 to $400 million as of late 2024. Combs currently owns multiple properties and has been paid more than $1 billion in partnerships and business deals with brands like Ciroc and Revolt.